Transportugal Europcar Race 2019

It looks like it was yesterday that Transportugal Europcar Race 2018 ended… and here we are talking about 2019!!

After a year crammed with bike tours and a well deserved summer break, we are back, going round and around with our agendas, trying to find the best schedules for the tours, trying to fit in our personal lives.

If mountain biking is your passion and you are up to new challenges, we certainly have one, just for you…

Transportugal Europcar Race! You must have already heard of it as it is the ultimate endurance race, and probably a different from everything you have done. More than an endurance race, it is a journey, the ultimate experience, a traverse of a country from north to south all on your own, racing as an individual. You and your GPS as inseparable friends.

Along 8 stages, you cross Portugal on your own putting your tenacity and toughness to the test. Support is not allowed and there are no aid stations along the 1000km of the race route, so you will have to do it without the caring help of your support team.

Sometimes, you'll race in complete isolation through the most remote countryside, most of the time alone and following an unmarked trail, no arrows or ribbons. The terrain adversities are numerous but the main adversity is the challenge itself.

You’ll have to plan, to adapt, to think about the next day, and the next, and the next, planning your moves well ahead just like in a game of chess.

You’ll be competing on equal terms with the younger ones or with the older ones, men or women - there’s only one classification for all the participants as a result of a “handicap system” (different starting times according to age and gender).

But this race is not only about toughness, it is also about breath-taking landscapes, downhill trails that pump adrenaline through all of your body, good atmosphere between racers and staff, a rustic environment, all those historic villages, fun trails, bone shaking single tracks, rolling flat lands and hundreds of other fantastic places.

Portugal is here to be discovered… and Transportugal Europcar Race has discovered Portugal many years ago, sixteen years ago, to be precise.

And we have been introducing this amazing country to all who accept the challenge of crossing it from North to South in a 8 day stage race. Few get to know Portugal beauty as well as the ones to take on this challenge. Breathtaking mountains, astonishing valleys, endless plains, amazing beaches…

All this is part of the Race.

In 2019 and for the third time, the race will begin in the historical city of Chaves, and the 1st stage will take the riders to the unparalleled vineyards of the Douro river - an area that was recognised World Heritage Site by Unesco – an area that we wanted to include on our race because of unique and beautiful landscape by the river.

Bringing the course to the centre of the country, athletes can now visit Viseu at the end of the second day, Penhas da Saude (next to the highest point of our country, and where is probable you will catch glimpses of snow at an altitude of 2000m) Serra da Estrela at the end of the 3th day, and from there they will cross the magnificent Serra da Gardunha to get to Castelo Branco.

On the 5th day, you will have the longest stage – about 188km – to Évora, just to get to the flats of Alentejo to Albernoa. Crossing Monchique the race will find the Atlantic Ocean… And finally…the last day of the race. Just getting to Sagres (south-western most point of Europe) where your biggest adventure ends, and the objective is accomplished!

THE BEST HOTELS IN PORTUGAL

Happily, for our race we use the very best hotels Portugal has to offer and their finest restaurants - crucial to recover one's energy and regain all those calories burnt during the day.

We welcome our new hotels partners for the 2018 race, 4 and 5 star hotels that will surprise you. Check out the updated list of the hotels at the race website.

COMPANIONS PACK

COMPANIONS FULL PACK - 1.649€Includes the Basic Pack, but we will arrange all transportation with a tour-guide.

That’s what you get if you challenge yourself to participate in this adventure which starts in Chaves on May 4th and ends in Sagres on May 12th, crossing Portugal from one end to the other along approximately 1000km.

Put yourself to the test, come race in Portugal next May 2019.

Pre- REGISTRATIONS will OPEN on September 1st!

Ensure your participation right away for the next edition of the Transportugal Europcar Race. Wait no more and start training!

TRANSPORTUGAL TOUR

Racing is not for you?

Maybe you would like to cross Portugal at a more leisurely pace?

We also have an event just right for you.

TransPortugal Tour takes you from Bragança to Sagres in 14 days of challenging mountain biking, but with no closing times, no classification, no stress, and with the same beautiful trails and great hotels of the race. The tour takes place from June 2nd to 15th June 2019, and registrations are also open.